Board adds more diverse historical figures, keeps Christmas in social studies curriculum

AUSTIN — Students enrolled in Texas public schools will learn about Jose Antonio Navarro and Christmas in class, if amendments made to state standards on teaching social studies hold up.

On Friday, the Texas State Board of Education postponed voting on updates to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills guidelines for social studies, history and economics curricula until it reconvenes in March after spending the past few days deliberating numerous amendments.

Board members debated a slew of proposed amendments and updates to its TEKS social studies guidelines, including which historical figures holidays to include in certain grades, how to address McCarthyism and whether to add how hip-hop has influenced popular culture.

Along the way, some compromises were made, including the addition of more minority and women historical figures. Some figures were excluded, including Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic woman to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court justice; however, labor rights activist César Chávez was put back in the fifth-grade curriculum, and Irma Rangel, the first Hispanic female astronaut, was included, as well as Texas revolutionary Navarro, said Mary Helen Berlanga, the board’s representative for District 2, which includes the Rio Grande Valley.

“Overall some good things happened,” Berlanga said, but she added that she was disappointed more Hispanic figures were not included, since more than 2 million of the state’s almost 4.8 million public school students are Hispanic. “If you don’t include some of these people, children will continue to lack that information.”

She added that Hispanic children have the right to know the contributions their ancestors made toward the creation of Texas and the United States.

The La Joya school district’s social studies coordinator, Dagoberto Eli Ramirez, said adding more diverse historical figures to the curriculum was a good thing.

“Social studies, by nature, should be open … inclusive,” Ramirez said. “I have no problem with adding pertinent key figures.”

The only challenge now, should the amendments stick, will be that students in grades in which the social studies parts of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills are administered will be responsible for knowing more historical figures and dates than before.

“We’ll deal with it,” Ramirez said.

The State Board of Education is expected to take a final vote on the TEKS social studies standards in May.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Jennifer L. Berghom covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4462.